Installing Bitcoin Core on Ubuntu

By Rich Apodaca | Updated May 25th, 2018

Configurability and security make Linux a favorite operating system for running Bitcoin Core. This guide shows how to install and run Bitcoin Core on a clean Ubuntu 18.04 system.

Prerequisites

Although Ubuntu carries Bitcoin Core in the Software Center, the release tends to be out-of-date. For this reason, this tutorial won’t use the Software Center. Compilation from source offers one alternative, but involves many steps. A more direct route is to install a precompiled binary from the command line.

Searching for the Terminal application.

The method described here uses Terminal, an application into which text-based commands can be issued. Access Terminal by clicking on the grid icon in the lower left of the desktop and typing “terminal”. Click the icon to launch the application.

Running the Terminal application. Commands are entered after the dollar sign.

This installation method is more secure than many, but it’s not entirely without risk. Take a moment to become familiar with some red flags.